Fisheries and Oceans Canada

A derivative of DFO’s benthic species survey for the Strategic Program for Ecosystem-based Research and Advice (SPERA) (open data record ID: e736c0f0-b19e-4842-903d-28bfc756d48a), this benthic survey funded through the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONeII) looks at the presence/absence and...

The Planning for an Environmental Response (PIER) initiative falls under the umbrella of the Government of Canada's Oceans Protection Plan (OPP), whose goal is preserving marine ecosystems vulnerable to increased transportation and the development of the marine industry...

The data in this layer represents habitat suitability of soft-shelled clams (Mya arenaria) in the DFO Maritimes region, and was developed using an interdepartmental approach. Substrate classification data as well as bathymetric data for the Region were used to identify potential habitat for...

The St. Anns Bank Marine Protected Area was established in June 2017. Data describing the spatial-temporal patterns and drivers of species movement is essential for evaluating species composition and to gauge the protective capacity of the MPA. Since 2015, an acoustic telemetry receiver array has...

ABSTRACT In the coming decades, warming and deoxygenation of marine waters are anticipated to result in shifts in the distribution and abundance of fishes, with consequences for the diversity and composition of fish communities. Here, we combine fisheries-independent trawl survey data spanning...

In summer 2019, beach seining and paired environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling was conducted at ten sampling sites in coastal Nova Scotia, ranging from the Lunenburg area to the province’s Eastern Shore. A 25-metre Danish bag seine was deployed by boat twice at each site to capture fish and...

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is organized into six administrative regions (Pacific, Central and Arctic, Quebec, Gulf, Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador). The Canadian Atlantic Quota Report (CAQR) presents the summary of quotas and catches by species for five of these six regions...

Layer that includes the known information on the atlantic sturgeon breeding, feeding and concentration areas in the St. Lawrence River and Estuary according to a literature review of documents produced between 1993 and 2003. Additional Information Atlantic sturgeon's breeding, feeding and...

These commercial whale watching data are comprised of two datasets. First, the ‘whale_watching_trips_jun_sep_british_columbia’ data layer summarizes commercial whale watching trips that took place in 2019, 2020 and 2021 during the summer months (June to September). The second data layer,...

Kelp features were taken from digitized survey source fieldsheets produced by the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS). The area covered by this dataset encompasses various surveyed areas along the western coast of North America in British Columbia coastal waters. CHS has an extensive collection...

The Planning for an Environmental Response (PIER) initiative falls under the umbrella of the Government of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan (OPP), whose goal is preserving marine ecosystems vulnerable to increased transportation and the development of the marine industry. The PIERs’ main mandate...

A coastal surficial substrate layer for the coastal Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy. To create the layer, previous geological characterizations from NRCan were translated into consistent substrate and habitat characterizations; including surficial grain size and primary habitat type. In areas...

The dataset represents known concentration areas of harvested or unharvested Arctic wedge clam (Mesodesma arctatum) in the Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec region. The dataset was created for the National Environmental Emergencies Centre (NEEC) for preparation and response purposes in...

This record contains two datasets: 1. Raw unfiltered geographic coordinates and accuracy estimates of ringed seals tagged in the Western Canadian Arctic and 2. The location estimate from state-space models using a 12-hr time step. In total, 17 ringed seals were captured, measured, weighed, and...

This dataset is a contribution to the development of a kelp distribution vector dataset. Bull kelp (Nereocystis leutkeana) and giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) are important canopy-forming kelp species found in marine nearshore habitats on the West coast of Canada. Often referred to as a...

Stimpson's surfclam or Arctic surfclam (Mactromeris polynyma) concentration areas in this layer are described as being known and commercially exploited historically and/or currently. The mapping of these areas is based on several sources of information: exploratory fisheries, scientific surveys...

The assessment of the status of eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds at the bay-scale in turbid, shallow estuaries is problematic. The bay-scale assessment (i.e., tens of km) of eelgrass beds usually involves remote sensing methods such as aerial photography or satellite imagery. These methods can fail...

This layer details Important Areas (IAs) relevant to sponge reefs (Hexactinosida) in the Strait of Georgia (SOG) ecoregion. This data was mapped to inform the selection of marine Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA). Experts have indicated that these areas are relevant based...

This dataset contains the abundance (per m²) and the biomass (mg dry per m²) of macrofauna (≥ 500µm) in eelgrass and adjacent bare soft sediments, collected at sites in the Atlantic of Nova Scotia from 2009 to 2013. Cite this data as: Wong M.C. Data of Benthic invertebrates in seagrass and bare...

This layer details Important Areas (IAs) relevant to key cetacean species in the Strait of Georgia (SOG) ecoregion. This data was mapped to inform the selection of marine Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA). Experts have indicated that these areas are relevant based upon their...